Despite concerns, Waltham councilors OK funding for Fernald purchase

Despite strong concerns from several councilors, the Committee of the Whole on Monday gave preliminary approval to buy most of the Fernald site.

By Ryan Grannan-Dollwaltham@wickedlocal.com

Despite strong concerns from several councilors, the Committee of the Whole on Monday gave preliminary approval to buy most of the Fernald site.

Specifically, councilors approved $2.8 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds to purchase 138.977 acres of the 200-acre Fernald site off Trapelo Road and also approved three other motions giving Mayor Jeannette McCarthy permission to sign legal documents relating to the sale.

The full council must give final approval to the committee votes.

Councilors’ approval of the funding is slightly different from a previous funding request, as the mayor had proposed purchasing 140 acres for $2.69 million in CPA money.

The city would use $795,000 in unrestricted cash to buy an additional 40 acres of the site.

Under the proposed deal, the city would pay $3.7 million for the site, but the state would continue to run the Marquardt Nursing Center. Several buildings, in which former residents lived and worked, would remain with the state.

The state wanted to shut down the site by 2007, but residents fought a years-long legal battle to stay. The last resident left the facility in November.

A private appraiser is currently appraising the site and is expected to finish by the end of the month.

Under the conditions of the Community Preservation Committee’s (CPC) funding vote, the site could be used for open space, recreation and historic preservation, according to Chairwoman Diana Young. While the CPA law typically allows communities to use funding for housing, the CPC’s vote prohibits that for now because the site is not zoned for housing, Young said. If the site were rezoned in the future, CPA money could be used to build affordable housing at the site, she said.

No specific plan has been approved for uses of the site.

Concerns

Councilors’ concerns centered on what they said was a lack of information and planning over the condition and potential future uses of the site. Other councilors, however, supported buying the site immediately, fearing a developer would purchase it.

In opposing the funding request, Ward 1 Councilor Daniel Romard said, “It’s very, very disappointing that we have not seen some type of plan … around what we are going to do here.”

Others, such as Councilor-at-large Joe Vizard, supported the funding request because they believe it is a good mix of CPA funding and unrestricted city funds. Vizard said the city needs a way to avoid high costs it could face with potential future issues at the site.

“We do need some type of release valve in case it starts to become a money pit,” Vizard said.

City Council President Robert Waddick reluctantly supported the funding request and immediate purchase.

“I think, from my perspective, we need to acquire this property, for no other reason than to protect this site from future development,” he said.

Waddick said he would prefer to avoid using CPA funding to buy most of the site.

Two other councilors raised concerns on what they said was a lack of information on the condition and planned use for the site. Councilor-at-large Tom Stanley, who is challenging the mayor in next year’s election, strongly objected, saying the city had not properly planned any use for the Fernald site or had an environmental study performed to find any potential contaminants.

“The city of Waltham has done absolutely no planning whatsoever with regard to what part of the land can be reused in the future,” he said. “We are going to want to restore a lot of the wetlands. That is going to cost money.”

Ward 9 Councilor Robert Logan raised concerns about past efforts to get information he felt he needed to make an informed vote. Logan said he had previously requested a peer review of an environmental report, pricing for demolishing buildings at the site and an appraisal. None of those requests was fulfilled, Logan said.

“The prudent thing to do would be use mostly, if not all, city funds,” Logan said, instead of using CPA money that would restrict potential future uses for the site.

Ward 2 Councilor Bill Fowler acknowledged the lack of planning but noted the city does not have a specific plan for the old dog pound and other city property.

“I don’t see that this is any different. … We will come up with something in due time,” Fowler said.

Stanley also objected to the perception the city had to close the sale before Dec. 31. McCarthy has said the city should close the sale before the end of year because Gov.-elect Charlie Baker could select a new chief of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and interrupt the sale process. DCAMM is the state agency working with Waltham on the sale.

Stanley said the perceived December deadline is “not true.” He said the city does not have to make any decisions until September 2015.